Sustainable Wine

In this Sustainable Wine Roundtable (SWR) Member Interview podcast, Hanna Halmari speaks with Holly Ellis, people and culture manager, and Molly Newport, wine buyer, from Ellis Wines.

The wine merchant recently became the first in the UK to power its delivery fleet with sustainable Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) fuel. Holly and Molly share insights into the carbon impact of wine distribution and the practical steps Ellis Wines is taking to reduce its footprint, from lightweight packaging and route optimisation to bulk shipping and fleet electrification. You can read more about Ellis Wine's broader sustainability and social impact commitments here.

SWR's Delaney Sheridan also joins the conversation to highlight how the SWR's Packaging Choice Framework and Bottle Miles Calculator projects will support members in cutting emissions. If you're interested in getting involved in either action area, please reach out to Delaney at delaney@swroundtable.org.

SWR's Hanna Halmari recently caught up with colleagues Dr Peter Stanbury, head of research, and Delaney Sheridan, operations manager, for a brief conversation about the Global Reference Framework (GRF). The GRF underpins all of the SWR's action areas, and in this short podcast, Peter and Delaney explain what the GRF actually is, how it was developed, and its importance in the work of the Roundtable.

If you’re interested in joining the SWR or getting involved in any of our action areas, please reach out to delaney@swroundtable.org.

In this Sustainable Wine Roundtable (SWR) Member Interview podcast, Hanna Halmari speaks with Valentina Lira, director of sustainability for Concha y Toro in Chile.

 

As one of the world’s ten largest wine companies, Concha y Toro has a unique opportunity to drive significant environmental change - and it’s not wasting any time doing so. The company has accelerated its net-zero target to 2040, advancing the goal by 10 years. Valentina shares how Concha y Toro is driving climate action, from implementing regenerative agriculture practices, to reducing bottle weight and transportation and distribution emissions. We also explore the importance of the Bottle Weight Accord, how to engage packaging suppliers to reduce bottle weight, and the progress Concha y Toro has made so far in these efforts.

2024 was an extraordinary year of collaboration, growth and impact for the SWR. We’ve entered the new year with momentum, excitement, and big plans ahead of us!

In this SWR update podcast, I speak with Dr Peter Stanbury, head of research, and Delaney Sheridan, operations manager, to find out more about our 2025 plans and what members can expect over the coming months.

If you’re interested in joining the SWR or getting involved in any of our action areas, please reach out to info@swroundtable.org.

The SWR's Bottle Weight Accord (BWA) launched in November 2023. To mark the one-year anniversary of the Accord, the SWR held a webinar to present the latest data and narratives from BWA signatories, to showcase the tangible results achieved so far.

The Accord is a core commitment by signatories to reduce their average bottle weight of 750ml still bottles to below 420g by the end of 2026. At the time of launch, the BWA had 8 signatories, primarily consisting of retailers. Now, a year later, it encompasses 20 participants and more than 1.5 billion wine bottles produced and sold. This represents around 5% of all wine production worldwide.

Listen to the webinar recording to hear first-hand experiences and key learnings from signatories on how they have implemented the Accord. Hear from:

• Dr Peter Stanbury, research director, SWR
• Rick Eplway, executive leader of merchandising, adult beverages, Whole Foods Market
• Dr Laura Catena, managing director, Bodega Catena Zapata
• Joe Olding, assistant buyer, Tesco

   

In this end of year podcast the Sustainable Wine Roundtable team review the progress made in 2024 and look ahead to the SWR's 2030 strategy.

Hear from the SWR's founder, Toby Webb, head of research, Dr Peter Stanbury, and head of operations, Delaney Sheridan, as they reflect on the positive developments and milestones achieved in various action areas, including the Bottle Weight Accord, Standards Benchmarking, Sustainable Viticulture Protocol, and more.

In this Sustainable Wine Roundtable (SWR) Member Interview podcast, Hanna Halmari speaks with Viviana Navarrete, the winemaker behind San Pedro TAYU and Viña Leyda. Both brands are part of Chile's VSPT Wine Group, one of the world's top 20 wine producers.

Viviana shares the inspiring story of San Pedro TAYU, a unique Pinot Noir produced in collaboration with the Indigenous Mapuche community in Chile's Malleco Valley, located in the Araucanía region. The partnership began in 2015 with two families and has since grown to include eleven families, with a total of 27.5 hectares of vineyards planted on the community’s own land. The community-centric project combines the Mapuche's traditional knowledge of the land with VSPT's expertise in viticulture, creating a long-term model for shared value creation and collaboration.

In this Sustainable Wine Roundtable (SWR) Member Interview podcast Hanna Halmari speaks with Dr Laura Catena, managing director of Bodega Catena Zapata and Luca Winery. Laura is a fourth-generation Argentine vintner, physician, and wine writer. She holds a biology degree from Harvard University and a medical doctor degree from Stanford.

Laura is also the founder of the Catena Institute of Wine, which is dedicated to preserving Malbec and elevating Argentine wine since 1995. The Catena Institute is a founding member of the SWR, as well as a recent signatory of the SWR's Bottle Weight Accord.

Laura shares why Catena joined the accord, highlights their progress in lightweighting bottles, and emphasizes the importance of collaboration in addressing consumer misconceptions about bottle weight and wine quality.

In this Sustainable Wine Roundtable (SWR) Member Interview podcast Hanna Halmari speaks with Prof. Dr. Mortiz Wagner from the Department of Applied Ecology at Geisenheim University in Germany.

They discuss the SWR's recently launched Sustainable Viticulture Protocol (SVP). The SVP is a shared framework for decision-making in relation to chemical use that aims to improve viticulture practices, with an emphasis on the reduction of chemical inputs and the adoption of regenerative techniques. The protocol was launched earlier this year, off the back of extensive research by an SWR inputs working group of which Moritz was part of.

Moritz shares key learnings from the research, why the protocol is necessary, and what progress he hopes to see over the next year.

Globally, there are more than 40 sustainability standards in the wine sector. How do these, and the organisations behind them actually drive positive change on sustainability along the value chain? Where do they work well, and where are the gaps to fill? Moreover, what can be done to ensure that they are as effective as possible?

In this webinar we deep dive into the role of sustainability standards in shaping the future of the wine industry. We bring together leaders from standards organisations, retailers, and producers to explore how these standards influence operations from vineyard to market. We examine the practical challenges and benefits of adopting sustainability standards, with a focus on ensuring they are accessible and impactful for all stakeholders, including smaller producers.

Key discussion topics include:

• How sustainability standards drive best practices in vineyards, wineries, and supply chains.
• The challenge of inclusivity: ensuring smaller growers are not left behind.
• How standards are used by growers, and how they decide which ones to use
• How sustainability standards influence purchasing decisions and shape the market.
• What do consumers think? How standards affect their buying choices.

We also provide an exclusive preview of SWR’s upcoming benchmarking pilot results and discuss how our benchmarking process addresses the growing complexity of sustainability standards in wine.

Speakers:

• Will Drayton, Director Technical Viticulture, Sustainability & Research, Treasury Wine Estates (USA)
• Linda Johansson, Sustainability Manager, Systembolaget (Sweden)
• Kate Venugopal, International Marketing Sustainability Specialist, Wine Institute (USA)

Moderator: Dr. Peter Stanbury, Research Director, Sustainable Wine Roundtable

If you have any questions with regards to SWR’s sustainability standards benchmarking, please contact Dr. Peter Stanbury (Research Director) or Delaney Sheridan (Operations Manager).